Before the creation of the Orissa province, it was under the Madras Presidency.The state was ruled as an independent kingdom till 1769.The royal family belong to the Krishnatreya gotra Odia Kshatriya and traced their lineage to Eastern Ganga Dynasty.

The zamindars were a branch of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty that survived as the rulers of the Paralakhemundi estate, currently part of the Gajapati district, Odisha.

[2] The Khemundi kingdom was established by a branch of the Eastern Gangas before the reign of the Suryavamsa Gajapatis, who had ruled the Kalinga region with the dynasty chiefs calling themselves as Chandravamshis.

[3] This is traced to the foundation of the Khemundi kingdom by Narashingha Deba, a son of the Eastern Ganga monarch Bhanudeva II during the early 14th century.

His descendants would inherit the Khemundi territory while the main Imperial Eastern Ganga line would end after being overthrown by the Suryavamshi Gajapati Empire.